


Ficlets batch #1

by rollingday_s



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: (Each ficlet has its own genres), AU, Angst, Comedy/Humour, Fantasy, Fluff, Friendship, Hogwarts AU, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:47:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10555052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rollingday_s/pseuds/rollingday_s
Summary: 10 Ficlets, all under 500 words, one for each pairing, different ratings and genres.





	1. one of those times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Sometimes it’s enough. Sometimes it isn’t._

**one of those times** | Junba | R | Angst | 366 words  


  


Aiba hums, his thumb still resting against his wrist. A distracting thought crosses Jun's mind as he feels the fingertip circle the skin, sending pleasant shivers down his back.

“It’s okay,” Aiba whispers.

His muscles react quicker than his mind does, and he snaps his hand away from Aiba’s hold. He can still feel the thumb tracing a path on his wrist, leaving it tingling. The skin feels oversensitive now, and Jun curses under his breath at the sensation.

Aiba is still there next to him, sheets hanging limply over his naked body. There’s a fake smile plastered on his face that Jun doesn’t understand. He’s not saying it’s okay anymore, and he’s glad about that. For some reason, hearing him say that hurts too much. But Jun never has the guts to tell him that he’s wrong, that’s it’s not okay.

When this thing between them had started, they were both pining after the same, straight man. They had decided that, if neither could have him, maybe they could relieve themselves of their frustration by bedding each other. That way, Aiba could still hug Sho and laugh with him, and then fuck Jun while thinking about _his_ touch lingering on his skin, and Jun could still be friends with Sho and talk to him about their shared interests, and then fuck Aiba while pretending it was _his_ voice moaning in his ear. So Jun can never tell Aiba that he doesn’t think about Sho that way anymore, and that it’s him, Aiba, that he loves now.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jun says, getting up.

He finds his clothes and dresses himself slowly, trying to buy time. Standing in the same room as Aiba is enough, sometimes. And sometimes, it’s not. This is one of those times.

But he still puts on his shirt and tucks it into his pants. He still smirks at Aiba on the way out. And he still stops in front of the doorway for a second before going, turning around to whisper something he can never say. And sometimes, just saying those three words in the darkness while Aiba can’t hear them is enough.

This is not one of those times.


	2. buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Jun’s giddiness is quick to fade when it’s Nino’s turn to get sorted._

**buddies** | Matsumiya | PG | Hogwarts AU | 430 words  


 

“You’ve been sorted… into Ravenclaw!?”

Jun can’t believe his eyes as he sees Nino sit down beside him at the Ravenclaw table. Around them, first year students like them are still being sorted into their Houses.

Jun had been so proud that the Sorting Hat had just barely been placed on his head when it immediately shouted “RAVENCLAW!” He had joined his older friends at the table with a big smile on his face. He was still revelling in the compliments from his new Housemates when he had heard that “Ninomiya Kazunari” had been, too, sorted in the same house.

“Congrats, Nino,” is saying Sho, extending his arm to pat him on the back.

“Isn’t it great?” Aiba yells. Ohno, next to him, doesn’t flinch or change his expression but he mumbles something while he waves his wand and his head gets wrapped in a bubble that seem to protect him from Aiba's screams in his ear. “We’re all in the same House!”

“B—but,” Jun stutters, “I thought you would be sorted into Slytherin.” He points his finger at Nino accusingly. He can’t have Nino in the same House as his. In the same dorm as his. Oh my god, in the same _room_ as his.

Nino shrugs. “I guess the Hat saw my hidden genius potential.”

Jun’s head is a mess the whole evening after that. He can’t believe, he thinks while he and Nino follow their friends into the Ravenclaw Common Room a while later, that he has to spend the next seven years in close contact with him after… _the incident_. He blushes slightly when he thinks about Nino’s face at the time.

They stop on the first floor, in front of a big wooden door.

“Here’s your dorm room,” Sho says, pointing at the plaque there. ' _First years_ ' is written on it in bronze.

“Sho-chan and I are in the second years’ room if you need us,” Aiba says with a failed wink before going up another flight of stairs, dragging Sho and Ohno, who’s a fourth year, with him.

There are three other first years shyly looking around when Jun pushes the door carefully and enters the room. There are five beds, one for each of them, with trunks at their feet. Jun quickly locates his trunk and throws himself on the bed next to it.

“So,” Nino is standing in front of Jun’s mattress, “we’re neighbours, Housemates, and now,” he points at his trunks on Jun’s right and grins, “bed buddies, it seems.”

Jun groans inwardly. It’s going to be a long seven years.


	3. don't mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _There was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on until now._

**don’t mind** | Sakuraiba | R | Angst | 451 words

 

He traces a trail of kisses on his neck, heartbeat rushing, bodies sweating as they rub against each other. Their lips are red and wet as their mouths clash together hungrily. Aiba’s hand crawls down on Sho’s back and then on his chest and now down on his abdomen. He’s immediately rewarded with a loud moan when he reaches what he’s been looking for, and he breathlessly pushes himself closer to Sho, groaning in his neck when he finally enters him.

Sho’s hands cup his face as Aiba starts moving, slowly at first, only quickening his pace when they’re both used to it. Sho is speaking now, love words dripping from his lips in delicate abandon. Aiba tastes those sounds with his tongue, letting the burn spread in his mouth. His mind goes to the night before, when he and Sho had made love on the carpet in front of the fireplace, the way it felt to feel the fire burn inside of them and hear it crackle so close to them. He remembers the warmth as Sho fell asleep keeping him in arms. He remembers picking up the phone in his stead when it rang, not wanting him to wake up from his deep slumber. He had come by Aiba’s place after work tired as hell, but he still made time for him. Sho always made time for him.

Aiba’s mind starts to connect the pieces together. Sho’s phone ringing at weird times, his reluctance to go on dates, his hesitation to let him meet his friends or show him his house. There’s a red spot on Sho’s neck, but it isn’t his. Sho never lets him leave marks of any kinds, and Aiba thinks he’s so stupid to never have figured it out until now.

His mind goes suddenly blank as they’re both approaching their climax. Sho’s hands cling to him while Aiba’s go down between their bodies again. He catches Sho’s last sigh just a second before they both shudder and still in each other’s arms.

Sho pushes him aside gently and nests in his chest. This is Aiba’s favourite moment after they make love, because Sho never rushes out, never leaves. They lay in each other’s arms, at least until his phone rings, and he has to get up because he has somewhere else to be.

“I don’t mind,” Aiba says suddenly.

“Masaki?” Sho’s voice croaks. Aiba doesn’t turn around, but he can still imagine how the crease on his forehead furrows. His lover doesn’t understand what he’s saying. Well, neither does he if he has to be honest, but he still can’t stop the words that come out next:

“I don’t mind being the other guy.”


	4. masterpiece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _There are downsides and upsides to dating an artist._

**masterpiece** | Yama | PG-13 | Comedy/Humour | 401 words

 

“You want to put that thing _where_!?”

Sho shoots him an incredulous glare.

Ohno tilts his head. “Why are you so against this?”

Sho’s eyes dart around the apartment frenetically, trying to find a way to explain to his boyfriend, the artist, that _some things_ are not acceptable to do even if they’re art. This being one of those.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what you said you would do with it when I agreed to this, Satoshi.” Sho’s face is of a darker shade of red now than when Ohno first showed him the painting. The painting that he did of him when he had posed naked when he had asked two months before. Sho still curses himself for having said yes.

Ohno pouts a little, his hands still clinging to the painting. Sho finds the scene a bit ridiculous, if he has to be honest. The canvas is almost bigger than Ohno’s figure, and it covers him up to his chin. There’s something hilarious in seeing his boyfriend’s head poking from behind a painting of his naked body.

“But what’s the meaning of making a painting if you can’t show it to the world?” Ohno whines.

“You’re not showing it to the world!”

Ohno shakes his head and puts the painting away. “You’re selfish, Sho-chan,” he says, getting closer to him. “You want to keep this beautiful masterpiece to yourself.” Sho feels him slowly lifting his shirt and is surprised with himself with how little he’s fighting this. He lets his boyfriend get him out of his clothes as his fingers slowly ride up his pectorals, tracing his chest gently.

Ohno caresses every inch of his body until Sho is a panting mess on the floor. They both end up naked sometimes soon after that, the painting laying forgotten a few steps from their burning bodies tangling together.

“Satoshi?” Sho says as soon as he recovers his breath.

“Hmm?” Ohno lazily pulls him closer and places a kiss on his head. In exchange, Sho kisses his neck and snuggles in his chest.

“We’re still not hanging the damn painting in the living room.”

He hears Ohno sigh a little. “You really are selfish,” he repeats. Sho chuckles, and he’s already dozing off when he hears Ohno mumble something that sounds like: “But then again, I’m okay if that means I’m the only one who gets to see Sho-chan’s body.”


	5. high standards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In which Jun owes Nino one._

**high standards** | Juntoshi | PG | AU, Comedy | 445 words

 

“The agency sent _you_?”

Jun raises his eyebrow as he stares at the man in front of him from behind his desk. He’s shorter than him, has a round face and puffy cheeks, heavy-lidded eyes, and his posture is just awful.

“Are you sure you’re supposed to be here?” he asks the man, unable to disguise his contempt.

The man just nods.

Jun looks down at the file that he has brought with him. The curriculum in it says his name is Ohno Satoshi, he’s 36, and he apparently has been picking up odd jobs since he dropped out of school at seventeen. Jun cocks his eyebrow once again. It’s not like he cares that he’s a high school dropout – most of his employees are anyway – but the guy is 36 and doesn’t look like he’s danced a single day in his life. He really doesn’t know why Nino would send someone like this today of all days, when he desperately needs a substitute since his best dancer got injured right before a bachelorette’s party. He takes his phone and sends a quick text to Nino asking him who the hell he had sent him before turning to the man who’s still awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, awaiting instructions.

“Well then,” Jun starts, a little hesitant, “I’m sure you know that we have certain, ah, _standards_ when it comes to our dancers.”

Ohno looks at him dumbfounded.

Jun clears his voice. “Your shirt, Ohno-san, if you’d be so kind as to remove it?”

Ohno mouths an _“oh”_ and starts fumbling with his shirt. Jun has to bite back a gasp when he sees that he’s actually ripped.

“You work out?”

Ohno gives a non-committal nod.

“And you can dance?” Jun asks, and he nods again. “Let’s see then.”

Ohno doesn’t even wait for the music to start before he starts moving around sensually. Jun stares in shock as he sees him move fluidly to a rhythm only he can hear. His eyes follow the curve of his body, going up again when he feels Ohno’s gaze on himself. When their eyes meet, Ohno looks at him and licks his lips. Jun feels his legs get weak, and he thanks the heavens he’s already sitting.

“That’s enough,” he says, regaining his composure. “You will do. Aiba-san will fill you in.” He gestures for Ohno to go away and the man leaves, dragging his feet lazily towards the door.

Jun sighs and takes his head in his hands. He’s still lost in his thoughts when he hears the sound of an incoming text.

From: Nino  
 _You owe me one, Jun-pon ;)_

Damn. He does.


	6. bitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Aiba is jealous of Australia._

**bitter** | Aimiya | G | Comedy/Humour | 320 words

 

“It’s not fair,” Aiba complains for the fifth time that evening.

Nino, who has been listening to his moaning for the better time of two hours now, throws a pillow at his head. Aiba whines when he’s hit, and throws the pillow back, missing Nino by a long shot.

They remain silent for a while after that, the only source of noise being the television in front of them, where questionably dressed singers in layers and layers of sequins that would make even Arashi blush, are performing in front of a live audience. Suddenly, the singers on the stage finish their duet while glitter and sparkly ribbons fall from the ceiling on the unsuspecting audience. That only makes the public scream louder and Aiba start to moan again.

“Aiba, I swear to holy Nintendo, start whining again and I will kick you out of my apartment in your underwear and call the cops on you,” Nino roars.

Aiba crosses his arms and looks at him with resentment. Nino enjoys approximately 5.2 seconds of quiet before Aiba starts complaining again.

“I just don’t get it, why is Australia allowed on Eurovision and we aren’t?”

Nino rolls his eyes. He doesn’t know why Aiba is so stuck on this technicality. “Australian people just love Eurovision that much, okay?”

“ _I_ love Eurovision that much!” Aiba protests.

“Yeah, well,” Nino says, “no one else in Japan does, apparently.”

After the VTR, a new singer comes up on stage and Nino grimaces. She’s wearing a multicoloured jacket on top of an extravagant dress made of tulle, velvet, and taffeta. Her hair resembles more a bird nest than actual hair, and her eyes are smack in the centre of a cloud of glittery eyeshadow.

“We would pull off that look so much better,” Aiba mumbles bitterly.

Nino throws him another pillow. Thank the heavens they’re not really participating in Eurovision.

He doesn’t envy Australia one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Eurovision (ESC) is an annual song contest between European Countries. Australia is allowed to participate because they're fluffy and cute and they apparently love Eurovision so much that they requested to be a part of it.


	7. hanami (flower viewing)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Jun loves his bonsai._

**hanami (flower viewing)** | Sakumoto | PG-13 | Fluff | 464 words

 

Sho is about to go on set when his phone starts vibrating with the sound of incoming messages.

When he opens up Arashi’s LINE chat, the first thing he sees is a picture of Jun’s bonsai.

MJ  
 _‘My_ sakura _bonsai has blossomed!’_

fishing_leader   
_‘It’s beautiful’_

MJ   
_‘Thanks, Leader’_

Ninomi   
_‘I will never get your obsession with these overpriced tiny trees, but congrats, I guess?’_

masakidotkommu  
 _‘Wow! You’ll have your own private_ hanami _this year!’_

Sho hasn’t been to Jun’s apartment in weeks now because he’s been busy with Zero and his idol work, and Jun’s been busy as well. He remembers that when he last saw it, the little tree was still barren, with small buds shyly peeking from the branches. He takes a better look at the picture. Now the bonsai is full of pink flowers. Some petals even fell on the table. It’s really beautiful, he has to admit. He quickly types a reply and hits send.

_‘Congrats, Jun.’_

His phone immediately buzzes, and he has barely the time to steal a glance before he has to go.

MJ   
_‘Thanks.’_

 

It’s been a while since he’s used the key to Jun’s apartment, and when he hears the door click he’s relieved it’s still working. He really can't remember the last time he had a free night to spend with Jun.

When he walks in, he’s not surprised to find his boyfriend staring at his bonsai lovingly in the living room.

“Tadaima,” he says.

“Oh.” Jun's smile is genuine when he sees him and Sho already feels his tiredness disappear. “Okaeri.”

“So,” he points at the bonsai, “did you ask it to marry you already?” he teases.

“Idiot.” Jun's eyebrows frown immediately. He crosses his arms and clicks his tongue. “Don’t you get it? Why I love this bonsai so much?”

Sho stares at him in confusion. “You do love bonsai a lot…”

Jun shoots him an irritated stare. “Not enough to shell thousands of yens on them, no.”

Sho looks around, not sure of what he should do.

Luckily, Jun comes to his rescue. “What tree is this?”

“Uh? A _sakura_ bonsai.”

Jun rolls his eyes. “Exactly. A _sakura_ bonsai, _Sakurai_.”

It takes him a few seconds to understand what his boyfriend is saying, and when he does, he does the only sensible thing you could do in times like this: he bursts out laughing.

Jun is blushing now, and he finds it very cute.

“So,” he says when he has regained his breath. His lips are smirking now as his hands go to his tie, loosening it. “Are you ready for your own private _hanami_ then?” he asks.

The first item of clothing is already on the floor when he feels Jun’s grin on his lips.

Oh, how he missed him.


	8. (like we used to do)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Things have just changed._

**(like we used to do)** | Tennen | PG-13 | Angst | 467 words | [insp.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AtDnEC4zak)

 

Ohno wakes up at seven thirty like he has for the last five years now. There’s only one thing missing when he opens his eyes, and it’s the same thing that has been missing for the past four months.

Everything else is there: the long limbs, the fluffy hair, the plump lips. The only thing that isn’t there is his smile. That beautiful smile that could brighten up a whole room in a second.

It just happened. One day, they drifted apart and they didn’t know why. Suddenly, the things that were supposed to make them happy, made them sad instead. Even their touches became more desperate, burning with something other than passion: burning with anger, regrets, misery. Until, one day, they couldn’t take it anymore.

“We don’t laugh anymore,” had said his lover one day.

Ohno still remembers that scene like it happened yesterday. Aiba, sitting at the kitchen counter with his mug in his hands, dressed in his favourite sweater, the light blue one that Ohno had bought him for their first Christmas together. He still remembers how the heat rose from the cup, forming a spiral of fog in the air. It was a cold but sunny day out, and the sun had taken over the whole room, splashing gold on every surface, making Aiba’s hair shimmer. Ohno has tried many times to paint the exact colour of that hair in his memory, but he never could.

 

Aiba still lays in their bed, staring at the ceiling like he has for the past months. His eyes shift to the empty spot next to him as he remembers a peaceful face sleeping beside him. There’s one thing he misses more than anything, but he knows there’s nothing he can do to take it back.

There were times when Ohno would look at him adoringly, and then hold out a hand to touch him. And Aiba would gladly let him do as he pleased with his body, a blank canvas for him to paint on with lips and fingertips. But it had been a while. Now, when Ohno touched him, he didn’t feel the love anymore.

 

“So, it’s tomorrow?” Aiba asks while they’re having breakfast.

Ohno knows Aiba is not asking for confirmation. He’s only talking to have something to do. Still, it hurts when he has to nod in reply. _It’s tomorrow_ , he thinks. _Our best friend's wedding is tomorrow…_

“And then we can tell everyone,” Aiba’s voice finishes his thoughts.

Ohno lets his face fall in his hand. He hears Aiba get up to get dressed as he remains there. In his head, he replays those words over and over again, the last words Aiba had told him that morning they decided to break up:

_‘We don’t talk anymore like we used to do.’_


	9. closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Somehow, Nino seems to always know how to read Ohno's mind._

**closer** | Ohmiya | PG | Fantasy, Fluff | 497 words

 

It’s become sort of an inside joke in their office, that Ohno Satoshi never speaks and seems to be out of it pretty much all the time.

And it’s true, Ohno has always been the silent type, but not for the reason people might think. It’s just that when you can read people’s mind since you were a little boy, you grow up learning how focus to keep everyone else’s thoughts out of your head.

“Are you coming, Ohno-senpai?” Jun asks.

“Uh?” He and Aiba had been discussing going to a sushi bar for the past five minutes, Ohno remembers.“Yeah, just give me a second.”

“We’ll see you there, then,” Jun says before he runs after Aiba, leaving him alone in the break room.

When the door finally closes, Ohno heaves a sigh and rubs his eyes. His headache is killing him. Even if they’re not in the room anymore, he can still hear Jun’s thoughts as his mind goes over and over his presentation for the next day, while Aiba’s worries about his new project are clouding his head. And they’re just the louder thoughts, the ones he can discern in the myriads of others that are buzzing in his mind right now.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

He looks up. Nino is leaning against the door, looking at him. He was already done for the day an hour ago, but he apparently never left. Ohno observes the frown on his face. He doesn’t need mind reading to know what he’s thinking, but he still appreciates that Nino isn’t telling him that he’s an idiot. This time, at least.

When Nino walks in and sits beside him, Ohno leans against him immediately, sighing with relief at the contact. They don’t know why, but Nino is the only one whose thoughts Ohno could never read. And also the only one who can make every other voice in his head disappear with just one touch. In times like these, when his powers overwhelm him, Nino is the only thing that keeps him sane.

“That bad, uh?” Nino comments when Ohno goes as far as pushing his face in the crook of his neck.

Ohno presses a sheepish smile on his skin.

Nino’s sigh is small, but Ohno is half draped over his body, so he can still feel it.

“Sorry,” he mumbles. He feels bad for making him worry. Nino tries to put on a tough persona, but Ohno knows how much he cares about his friends.

“What would you do without me?”

This time, Nino’s sigh is annoyed and exasperated, and yet Ohno can’t help but smile again as he feels him leave a fugacious kiss in his hair before pulling him closer.

Nino never needs him to speak to know what he's thinking, but Ohno tells him anyway, even though he knows it'll only gain him an eye-roll and a playful slap on his head.

“Thank you.”

This time, at least, the slap never comes.


	10. first rule

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _They say money can’t buy love._

**first rule** | Sakumiya | PG-13 | Angst | 427 words

 

He knows he doesn’t own him, and he never will. And yet, he thinks every time he reaches for his wallet, he still pays for his company.

But how could he not? Just one look at him and he was lost.

He tastes every colour of his skin, fingers pulling at the softness of his hair, lips going down to the mole on his chin, and then fingertips dancing on his shoulders, on his chest, on his back, on his thighs… Sho knows he doesn’t own anything of this body, but he still marks it with his teeth, still dirties it with his touch, still chains it with silent words of love. And Nino takes everything, never stops him, and to Sho it’s a cruel illusion, to think that Nino loves him too, but he doesn’t care most of the time. He only regrets it when they say goodbye, and his hands have nothing else to hold on to, the only trace left of their encounter being their scent on his sheets, the racing heart in his chest, and the promise to see each other again.

Sho knows he doesn’t own Nino, but Nino owns his heart.

 

Nino once told him that the most important rule in his line of business was to never fall in love.

 _‘But did you ever?’_ he had asked, a little light of hope barely alive in his words.

Nino had smiled a little and had taken a long drag on his cigarette.

 _‘Sho-chan,’_ he had said a few seconds later, _‘you ask too much. This is not in our contract.’_

Of course it wasn’t, Sho had thought. _‘No private questions,’_ had told him Nino when they first started this. _‘You can tell me about your life, if you want, but I won’t tell you anything about mine.’_

At the time, Sho had accepted, thinking nothing of it. He was already desperately in love and he still thought he could make Nino want him too. And even if he didn’t, he had hoped to be satisfied with Nino’s body.

How wrong he was.

 

First rule: never fall in love.

“Tomorrow, same time?” Sho says, handing him his money.

 _‘But did you ever?’_ Sho had asked him once. Nino still remembers the light brush of his fingers on his when he passed him the cigarette they were sharing, the shivers running down his body and making his heart race suddenly.

“Yeah,” he whispers, taking the bills from his hands.

He’s glad Sho can’t see the tears on his face while he walks away.


End file.
